The number of single-family home loans on Fannie Mae’s books which are seriously delinquent dropped to 2.93 percent in April. This is the first time the rate has been below 3 percent since 2009, according to the government-sponsored entity’s monthly report on its balance sheet.

Seriously delinquent loans are those which are more than 90 days late in payment.

The report follows a similar release from Freddie Mac last week showing its single-family serious delinquency rate dropped to 2.91 percent in April, also the first time the rate had been below 3 percent since July of 2009.

Freddie Mac’s single-family delinquency rate peaked at 4.2 percent in February of 2010. Fannie Mae’s single-family delinquency rate peaked at 5.59 percent in February of 2010. Prior to the housing crash, seriously delinquent loans typically comprised 1 percent or less of the mortgage giant’s portfolios.